It can be helpful, for example, if you're walking alone through a dark alley — your fear can protect you by telling you to keep your guard up.

On the other hand, fear can also be crippling — the opportunities we don't seize, the experiences we're hesitant to try out, and the stronger, better person we fail to become.

Whether it's fear of the unknown, fear of failure, or fear of success, overcoming our fears is one of the most important steps to personal development.

For this reason, it's best to get as much help as we can, even from simple inspirational quotes from time to time.

Below are 55 quotes on overcoming fear.

Personally, my favorite is #24. What's yours? Share it in the comments below.

01. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. -Helen Keller

02. Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. -William Shakespeare

03. Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. -Dale Carnegie

04. Do not be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. -John Rockefeller

05. Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. -Benjamin Franklin

06. Do one thing every day that scares you. -Eleanor Roosevelt

07. Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it. -Judy Blume

08. Everything you want is on the other side of fear. -Jack Canfield

09. Extreme fear can neither fight nor fly. -William Shakespeare

10. Failure doesn't mean you are a failure it just means you haven't succeeded yet. -Robert H. Schuller

11. Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street. -Zig Ziglar

12. Fear has its use, but cowardice has none. -Gandhi

13. Fear is only as deep as the mind allows. -Japanese Proverb

14. Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. -Bertrand Russell

15. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. -Yoda

16. Fears are nothing more than a state of mind. -Napoleon Hill

17. Feel the fear and do it anyway. -Susan Jeffers

18. Have no fear of perfection. You'll never reach it. -Salvador Dali

19. He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. I failed my way to success. -Thomas Edison

21. I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. -Rosa Parks

22. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. -Nelson Mandela

23. If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment. -Marcus Aurelius

One way to overcome fear is by taking action.

37. Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure. -Paulo Coelho

38. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. -Winston Churchill

39. The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but it is fear. -Gandhi

40. The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one. -Elbert Hubbard

41. There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance…Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life. -John Lennon

45. To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another. -Katherine Paterson

46. Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. -Les Brown

47. Try a thing you haven’t done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not. -Virgil Thomson

48. Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom. -Mary Ferguson

49. We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets. -Marilyn Monroe

50. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? -Vincent van Gogh

51. When you are afraid, do the thing you are afraid of and soon you will lose your fear of it. -Norman Vincent Peale

52. Where fear is, happiness is not. - Seneca

53. You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind. -Dale Carnegie

54. You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do. -Eleanor Roosevelt

55. You miss 100% of the shots you didn't take. -Wayne Gretzky

Share below: What's your #1 fear that has been holding you back lately? Why is it important for you to overcome this? Which is your favorite quote on overcoming fear?